MueThor Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 (edited) Hello guys, Your help is needed. This new thread is necessary, because I am a dummy that needs an overview of the required technical devices for running newer games/demos on real iron TI 99 and simple explanations on how these devices work and for what or why these devices are needed with regard to the corresponding game/demo. Thereby some games/demos seem to work solely as a "stand alone" cartridge to be purchased, while for others a file has to be uploaded into a FinalGROM 99. It would be nice, if beside each needed possible combination of devices also the address would be mentioned, where to download the file for the corresponding game/demo and the special combination of devices used therewith (if there are different combinations of devices possible, then please document it). I discovered following newer games/demos: 1. Alex Kidd on Miracle Island by TheMole 2. The Legend of Tilda by PeteE 3. Tutankham by retroclouds 4. KnightLore by Asmusr 5. TI 99 4a Mega Demo Don't Mess with Texas by Desire It would be great, if every developer of a game/demo mentioned above would response to my message with regard to his game/demo. Thank you in advance for your efforts. Regards Edited July 27, 2017 by MueThor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMole Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Alex Kidd needs 32k mem expansion, and can be burned to a "red board", a "yellow board", or an "ubercart". It can also be run from a FinalGROM, but not from a FinalROM cartridge. It has optional support for the F18A for (much) enhanced graphics and it supports the gamepad hacks that map the second joystick's fire button to one of the additional buttons available on the gamepad. The demo can be downloaded only from this forum: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/243742-alex-kidd-on-miracle-island-playable-demo/?p=3343399 It's been eons since I've done any actual work on the full game, and I just saw that PeteE reported a bug in the demo that I should probably fix. I hope I can do some work on it in the not-to-far-away future... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 4 and 5 (and pretty much everything else I have done) require a 32K expansion. As for Alex Kidd they can be burned to a "red board", a "yellow board", or an "ubercart" or can run from a FinalGROM 99, but not from a FlashROM 99 cartridge (because the images are bigger than 32K). They do not require an F18A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 I sell the 32k ram expansion and the carts at arcadeshopper.com I can sell you the carts listed or sell you the components to build your own. With the exception of the finalgrom99 which is sold by ralphb directly. Greg Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteE Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 If you're just getting started, I suggest getting the FinalGrom99 and a 32K RAM expansion. That will get you playing almost anything. The Legend of Tilda will work on the FlashRom or FinalGrom, and that's all you need. Put the .bin file on the SD card and you're good to go. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MueThor Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 Hello guys, Please take following assumption of mine into account, when you write your messages: ...Thereby some games/demos seem to work solely as a "stand alone" cartridge to be purchased, while for others a file has to be uploaded into a FinalGROM 99. In other words: Will your game/demo also run, if the file for it is uploaded onto a flash card to be used in a CF7+ and/or nanoPEB? Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Hello guys, Please take following assumption of mine into account, when you write your messages: In other words: Will your game/demo also run, if the file for it is uploaded onto a flash card to be used in a CF7+ and/or nanoPEB? Regards No, a CF7+/nanoPEB is proving a system for mounting floppy disk images on a memory card - not a system for mounting cartridge images like the FinalGROM is doing. The nanoPEB also provides a 32K RAM expansion, so you could run all the software with a nanoPEB plus a FinalGROM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+retroclouds Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 The Tutankham prototype/demo is a 32k rom (4x8k) that can run on a console without 32k RAM expansion. Banks are reversed as the image was built for John Guidry cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MueThor Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 (edited) Hello retroclouds, Would your game also run on a CF7+/nanoPEB (with 32k RAM) and/or on a FinalGROM 99 without 32k RAM? Regards Edited July 30, 2017 by MueThor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MueThor Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 (edited) Dear guys, Does there exist in case of your game/demo at least one further reason besides higher execution speed in comparison with the speed, if it was realized as a disk image, and/or no necessity of 32 k RAM for realizing it as a cartridge image? Would your game/demo also run, if it was realized as a disk image? If not, which limitations/drawbacks would have to be accepted for your game/demo (e.g. lesser number of levels, colors etc.) to be realized as a disk image? Thank you in advance for providing me with additional informations. Regards Edited July 28, 2017 by MueThor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Dear guys, Does there exist in case of your game/demo at least one further reason besides higher execution speed in comparison with the speed, if it was realized as a disk image, and/or no necessity of 32 k RAM for realizing it as a cartridge image? Would your game/demo also run, if it was realized as a disk image? If not, which limitations/drawbacks would have to be accepted for your game/demo (e.g. lesser number of levels, colors etc.) to be realized as a disk image? Thank you in advance for providing me with additional informations. Regards There is a disk version of the megademo. The drawback is that it has to load from disk between each effect, which to some extent ruins the experience. Knight Lore was originally made for a machine with 48K, and since the code is even longer on a TI there is no way to fit it into 32K, so a disk version is not possible. A disk version using SAMS (extended memory) instead of ROM would be possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MueThor Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 (edited) Dear Asmusr, Thank you for your clarifications . There is a disk version of the megademo. Where can it be downloaded? Knight Lore was originally made for a machine with 48K, and since the code is even longer on a TI there is no way to fit it into 32K, so a disk version is not possible. You mean that TI has got only 32k RAM for the Assembly program and 16k VDP RAM and therefore a total of 48k RAM, which is still not enough? Offtopic: I newly discovered that you have programed Formula 18A demos, the latest one of them specified as demo 4. They have become very nice . At this point a hint for an improvement: For demo 4 you have created a too small racing car. The car should be bigger, but not as big as in demo 3. Regards Edited July 28, 2017 by MueThor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+retroclouds Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Hello retroclouds, Would your game also run on a CF7+/nanoPEB (with 32k RAM) and or/on a FinalGROM 99 without 32k RAM? 1. CF7+/nanoPEB not without changing source code. It is designed to run in the cartridge space and has bankswitching code.2. FinalGROM 99 without 32k RAM. Yes, but banks need to be realigned if I'm not mistaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Dear Asmusr, Thank you for your clarifications . Where can it be downloaded? You mean that TI has got only 32k RAM for the Assembly program and 16k VDP RAM and therefore a total of 48k RAM, which is still not enough? Offtopic: I newly discovered that you have programed Formula 18A demos, the latest one of them specified as demo 4. They have become very nice [emoji106]. At this point a hint for an improvement: For demo 4 you have created a too small racing car. The car should be bigger, but not as big as in demo 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hdYd_1-Coo Regards Here in the megademo thread. I also sell it on cartridge at arcadeshopper.xom Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MueThor Posted July 29, 2017 Author Share Posted July 29, 2017 (edited) Dear retroclouds, 2. FinalGROM 99 without 32k RAM. Yes, but banks need to be realigned if I'm not mistaking. Does this mean that a part of the code for the game Tutankham will probably have to be modified by you? Regards Edited July 30, 2017 by MueThor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MueThor Posted July 29, 2017 Author Share Posted July 29, 2017 Dear arcadeshopper, Here in the megademo thread. If you answer this question, would you also be so nice to specify a link (of course I can search for it on my own)? Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Does this mean that a part of the code for the game Tutankham will probably have to be modified by you? No. Look at this ZIP for programs that run with the FinalGROM 99. There's also an index that shows you which programs need an additional 32K. Many legacy programs were converted to disk images, but those need 32K and either Extended BASIC or Editor/Assembler (or their modern equivalents) to run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+retroclouds Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 (edited) Dear retroclouds, Does this mean that a part of the code for the game Tutankham will probably have to be modified by you? Regards There is no need to change the assembly source code. The only thing necessary to make it work on the newer boards is rearrange the 8K blocks that make up the cartridge image. I basically went from this: @echo off copy /B TUTC.BIN+TUTD.BIN+TUTE.BIN+TUTF.BIN TUT.BIN to @echo off copy /B TUTF.BIN+TUTE.BIN+TUTD.BIN+TUTC.BIN TUTR.BIN I took the "new" TUTR.BIN and tried it with both the flashrom99 and fg99 boards and it worked without issues. TUTR.BIN EDIT: I do have a much newer version that I can't seem to assemble anymore. I lost one of the assembly source files. ***shame on me*** for not having a backup of that file. Might have it on a USB stick somewhere floating around, but didn't find it. Edited August 8, 2017 by retroclouds 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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